Miranda Lambert Plays Surprise Gig at Florida Club

FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. — It seems the carefree lifestyle of the Florida Panhandle has gotten to Miranda Lambert. Early Saturday afternoon (June 14), Lambert’s buses and crew began loading into the Block, a popular Fort Walton Beach nightclub for an unannounced pit stop.

By 2 p.m., suspicions were confirmed when Lambert’s famous Airstream arrived and she tweeted out to her nearly 4 million Twitter followers a photo of her pink travel trailer parked in front of the venue along with the caption, “We were on our way to Jacksonville and decided to stop in Ft. Walton Beach tonight! Come party with us! 9:30 at the Block!”

The line of cowboy boot-wearing music lovers began to form almost immediately and wrapped around the building and down the street. As quickly as the first 700 fans could pile in, the Block was filled to standing room only for the free, two hour concert.

The reigning ACM and CMA female vocalist of the year opened her show with “Fastest Girl in Town” and continued with the hits that made her famous — “Even Prettier,” “Over You,” “Heart Like Mine,” and “Gunpowder & Lead,” to name a few. The title track from Platinum was included, along with “Automatic” and “Little Red Wagon.” Before she broke into “Priscilla,” a song obviously about the relationship of Elvis and Priscilla Presley, Lambert said with a smile, “This song is also about my husband.”

The track had already made headlines when it garnered the attention of the song’s namesake, Priscilla Presley, who posted a picture on Instagram along with daughter Lisa Marie sampling the tune saying, “@LisaPresley and I are listening to your song ’Priscilla.’ Best of luck with your new album. x Priscilla.”

In addition to her skills as a vocalist and guitarist, Lambert proved herself to be quite skilled on the cowbell as she showcased various bandmates on lead vocals, including Carolyn Dawn Johnson, who belted out the 1984 Bryan Adams hit, “Summer of ’69.” The Band’s “Up on Cripple Creek,” Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll” and the Faces’ “Stay With Me” all made the set list, as well.

“Shhh, don’t tell anyone we’re not really country, because we are!” she laughed.

At the height of her career, Lambert’s Platinum is currently atop the all-genre Billboard 200 chart. Additionally, she just set the record as the only artist in the 50-year history of Billboard’s country albums chart to have each of her first five albums debut at No. 1. Her previous four albums have all been certified platinum.

The majority of Lambert’s most recent performances have been taped for television or have been in large venues all over the world. For Lambert, the stop in Fort Walton Beach helped her remember the early days in her career.

“We haven’t played a good old-fashioned club in a while. That’s where we feel at home!” she grinned.